Irvington teacher arrested in stabbing death of boyfriend

Irvington High School teacher Sharonda Wilson, 31, arrested in stabbing death of her live-in boyfriend, Erik Stubblefield.

IRVINGTON — Sharonda Wilson, the Irvington High School teacher charged with killing her live-in boyfriend on Thursday, told police that stabbed him once in the heart with a kitchen knife following a dispute after he accused her of being unfaithful, according to investigators.

Wilson, 31, faces murder charges in the death of Erik Stubblefield, 38, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.

“She said he was upset with her,” after he confronted her with his suspicions that she was cheating on him, said Irvington police Lt. Tracy Bowers.

Although Wilson told Stubblefield that his suspicions were baseless, “the confrontation got physical and her charged her,” Bowers said Wilson told investigators. “She then used a knife to defend herself.”

Police, responding to a 911 call from Wilson at 2:23 p.m. Thursday, found Stubblefield in the Headley Terrace apartment he had shared with Wilson for about a year, prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Katherine Carter said.

Medical personnel tried to revive him, but Stubblefield was pronounced dead at the scene just before 3 p.m.

Wilson was also charged with weapons offenses. She was being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility today in lieu of $250,000 bail. Her attorney could not be reached.

Wilson has taught video and audio production at Irvington High School since 2007. The school board president, Paul Inman, said the district went into crisis mode on Friday morning, making sure that counselors were on hand for students who wanted or needed them.

“It’s still a tragedy. It’s two families destroyed. Everyone is praying for her and for the other family,” said Inman, who went to the Clinton Avenue campus on Friday morning.

Authorities said they had little information about Stubblefield. Bowers said Stubblefield was also thought to be a Middletown, Del., resident.

On Thursday evening, people who gathered outside the white, two-story two-family residence where the couple lived said they never heard shouting or fighting coming from the house.

“If they were arguing, they were real discreet,” said Kevin Thelusma, 20, who lives across the street.

Jeffrey Smith, 21, who took Wilson’s audio and video class his senior year, said the revelation was shocking.

“She was nice,” said Smith, who lives down the street from Wilson on Headley Terrace. “She was cool.”

Levon Pierre, 26, said he didn’t have Wilson as a teacher when he attended the high school, but said that she made it a point to say hello in the hallway and ask students how they were doing, both academically and personally.